About

Pinball Arcade: The Addams Family

$115,276

pledged of $97,640 goal

3,984

backers

Here at FarSight Studios, we have over 20 years of experience developing video games on consoles, phones and tablets. We are also pinball fanatics. For the last eight years, we’ve been developing modern videogame recreations of classic pinball tables. We have licenses from the original manufacturers of the tables (Bally®, Gottlieb®, Stern® and Williams®) to do this. The Pinball Arcade and is currently available on a wide variety of platforms: the iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Ouya, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Play Station 4, PS Vita and Steam for PC and Mac, with the Nintendo Wii U coming soon. Check us out at www.pinballarcade.com and https://www.facebook.com/pinballarcade.

Here’s what the gaming press has to say about the Pinball Arcade:

"Rolling thunder." 9.0 -IGN

“Mobile Game of the Year.” -G4TV

“Top 100 product of 2012.” -PCWorld

“FarSight Studios has been making digital pinball for nearly a decade, and Pinball Arcade is the culmination of that effort and experience… a must-own” -IGN

“An impressive title, and one that is bound to please pinball fans” -148 Apps

“As close to the pinball experience as you will ever get in the palm of your hand” –Pocket Gamer

“This game is superb along with great presentation” –Inentertainment

“Authenticity is the name of the game here, and Farsight has absolutely nailed it” –GameLive.TV

“It's a carefully curated selection, designed to showcase some of the best-loved tables from the heyday of the pinball industry” –Euro Gamer

“Passion is contagious. When you do things with passion, enthusiasm, and drive, it shows.” –1985FM

“FarSight's steel balls have something special that sets their title apart – realism… you can trade in your heavy pocket of change for a pocketful of some of the best classic pinball tables ever created.” –Push Square

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The process of digitizing these tables is very complex. We first acquire the actual physical pinball table we want to digitize. We want our videogame version to play exactly the same as the table played when it was new. We strip the table down to the bare wood playfield and take high-resolution digital photographs of every part. We use these to create three-dimensional computer models of each of the components on the playfield. When the modeling is complete we export the data into our graphics engine, which displays the table on each of our target platforms.

Next, we implement the table logic and sound. We do this by emulating the electronics from the original pinball tables. Most complex tables were controlled by what are by modern standards primitive computers. We’ve created ROM-emulation technology that allows the same program that controlled the original table to run on our target devices. This means that every rule, sound effect and light sequence is exactly correct in our digital version. The idea that you can run the original code that controlled a huge cabinet-based pinball machine on your iPhone is pretty cool!

The last step in digitizing a table involves tuning the pinball physics. We’ve continuously improved our pinball physics engine for the last eight years and we’re very proud of it. We can individually control reflection angles and physics parameters for every section of any component on the playfield. We use the original table as reference when doing this to ensure accuracy. Finally, the table goes through a review process where it’s critiqued by pinball experts and approved by the table manufacturer. The end result of this painstaking process is an exact digital recreation of the pinball table you can play on your handheld device or in your living room!

What we’re most proud of is that we’re preserving these tables for future generations to enjoy. We can remember when these tables were in every arcade, pizza parlor and bowling alley, but they are becoming increasingly rare. If you find one, chances are it’s not been well-treated and many features are burned out or broken. If you’re a pinball fanatic like us you can buy one and restore it, but they are expensive, maintenance-intensive, and there are fewer of them every year. In fact some of these tables can cost more than $15,000! We want everyone to be able to appreciate these tables, not only people who can afford to spend as much money on a pinball table as a car. Chances are very good that our children will never get the opportunity to appreciate the great pinball table we did- unless these tables are digitally preserved.

Some of the greatest pinball tables were based on licensed properties. Often when a manufacturer created a special new table they’d base it on a popular cultural feature of the times: a movie, a band or television show. Their original license to use these properties have long since expired, so when we want to create digital versions of these tables we must research who now owns the rights and negotiate with them. Sometimes the discussions are easy and sometimes they are very difficult. In addition if the table features actors on the backglass or playfield we must secure licenses to use their likenesses (sometimes from their estates if they are deceased). Some table also featured popular music of the times that we must secure composition and performance licenses for. It can be a daunting task!

This time we want to digitize the most popular pinball table of all time! This
table was released by Williams in 1992 and is unquestionably one of the
greatest pinball tables in the history of pinball with over 20,000
units sold (More than any table ever!). It was designed by the legendary
Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar (who also designed Twilight Zone, Banzai Run
and Funhouse). This table was integrated more deeply to the movie than
any other licensed pinball table of its time. The Addams Family® featured the
first ever optical target bank (in the bookcase), and the "Thing Flip"
which was the first time a pinball tables flippers could be controlled
by the tables CPU. When the "Thing Flip" is active the table can
actually make shots for you. Another great feature is "The Power"
which causes magnets to dramatically effect the direction of the ball on
the playfield. It's one of our favorite tables ever!

We’ve succeeded in negotiating all of the licenses we’d need to digitize The Addams Family® and bring it to the Pinball Arcade. Unfortunately there are several licenses involved: in addition to the Williams license, we need a license for The Addams Family®, the actor likeness of Raul Julia (Gomez Addams) and Anjelica Huston (Morticia Addams), on the backglass and play field, and the right to use the actor voiceovers during gameplay. When we add up the costs of each required license and calculate what we’d have to charge for the table, we’ve concluded that The Addams Family® is just not commercially viable. The more we charge for the table the fewer people will be able to buy it- and our goal is to expose as many people as possible to this great table, not just a select few.

Here’s where you come in! The licenses we've secured for The Addams Family® will cost $101,000 (and that’s just for the licenses- we’ll cover all of the development expenses ourselves). Thanks to the amazing generosity of pinball fans throughout the world, our previous Kickstarter project for the Terminator 2: Judgement Day pinball table raised $3,360 more than we needed for the Terminator 2: Judgment Day licenses and we're applying this towards the license costs of The Addams Family®. If we can raise the remaining $97,640 we’ll be able to digitize the Addams Family and preserve one of the greatest pinball tables of all time. If we don't reach our goal no credit cards will be charged, but if we raise more then the goal we’ll be able to digitize other licensed tables as well.

We’ve put together a tempting list of rewards to say “thank you” for helping out. Please join us in preserving this amazing piece of pinball history!

With all of the help from supporters like you, we have been able to digitize some of the greatest and most popular pinball tables in history. Our past three Kickstarters for the Twilight Zone®, Star Trek: The Next Generation® and Terminator 2: Judgement Day® funded successfully and are currently available in our game. If you are new to the Pinball Arcade, we recommend you download the game and give it a go! Check out the list of platforms below.

Risks and challenges

We've digitized over 50 of these tables, and we are very confident in our ability to deliver a digital version of The Addams Family® table that our fans will enjoy. However, the process of creating these tables is very complex and delays sometimes occur. We're targeting a release date of February 2015, but it's possible this date might slip if we encounter unforeseen problems in development. Also, the lead time for deployment on some platforms (particularly the consoles) is longer, so it is likely the table will release later on these platforms.

In addition, we have had problems in the past with deployment on some platforms. In particular, our publisher for the Xbox 360 version of the Pinball Arcade filed for bankruptcy last year, and we have been unable to ship new tables for the 360. Microsoft has recently granted us the right to a new publisher and we will be releasing the Addams Family® table along with all of the tables currently available on other platforms. And we haven't forgotten backers of our previous Kickstarters for Twilight Zone® and Star Trek: The Next Generation®.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge US$ 1 or more
About $1.00

Don't have much to spend but still want to help the cause? All we ask is that you share our Kickstarter on your social media pages. You'll have our gratitude, plus the satisfaction of knowing you helped make the preservation of this amazing table possible!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 15 or more
About $15

Get the Pro version of The Addams Family® pinball table including access to the table operator’s menu on a single platform of your choice, entry into the Kicksterter supporters tournament (Running from now until the end of the Kickstarter) PLUS your name listed as a BRONZE backer in the game credits!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 20 or more
About $20

Get The Addams Family® Pro pinball table on any two platforms of your choice, entry into the Kicksterter supporters tournament, your name listed as a BRONZE backer in the game credits PLUS an exclusive Addams Family® Pinball wallpaper.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 50 or more
About $50

Everything above PLUS your name listed as a SILVER backer in the game credits AND The Addams Family® virtual pinball collection. These special balls WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO ALTER THE PHYSICS of the game and can be used on any of the tables in the Pinball Arcade!!! These balls will be spooky cool!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 75 or more
About $75

Everything above PLUS an entry into the exclusive Addams Family® Supporters Tournament! (Held after the Kickstarter is funded with a chance to win a Addams Family® translight signed by the FarSight team)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 100 or more
About $100

Welcome to the GOLD club!!! Everything above PLUS your name listed as a GOLD backer in the game credits AND The Addams Family® Special Collectors Gold Edition. This edition has gold accents, such as the metal ramps, gold legs and bolts, gold lettering, the vault plastic, the bumper caps and Thing's box.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 250 or more
About $250

Everything above, six additional Pro copies of the table for the platform of your choice (ten total copies) (can be gifted to friends) PLUS a cool Pinball Arcade Development Team shirt. (Shipped within the US only)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

Get everything above PLUS a conference call with the Pinball Arcade design team during The Addams Family® Beta. Tell us how the table plays, what needs to be improved, and suggest which tables we should do next. Your input can have a real impact! (Beta access only available through Steam or Android)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,500 or more
About $2,500

Get everything above PLUS a one-on-one lunch with the FarSight design team and up to five of your friends! We’ll give you access to all the tables we have recreated in the game and a tour of our studio in Big Bear Lake, California. You'll get an inside look at how we digitize pinball tables. We’ll show you what we’re currently working on (and you’ll be among the first outside the studio to play it!) You are responsible for your travel (but lunch is on us!)